Swiss vote to keep guns at home

Switzerland has the highest rate of gun suicide in Europe, with around 300 self-inflicted deaths each year involving a firearm. Photo / Thinkstock

Switzerland upheld its reputation for having one of the most liberal yet lethal firearms laws in Europe yesterday after voters overwhelmingly rejected proposals that would have obliged some two million gun owners to keep their weapons in public arsenals rather than at home.

In a national referendum more than half of Switzerland's 26 cantons voted against an initiative aimed at banning army rifles from households to try to reduce domestic shootings and a record number of suicides involving firearms.

Swiss soldiers have been encouraged to keep their rifles at home after leaving the forces under a national defence policy introduced during World War II.

The practice is seen as a symbol of the trust the state invests in the alpine country's largely conscript army.

Conservative politicians welcomed the result, saying it demonstrated the nation's reluctance to end a practice that upheld the traditions of its folk hero, William Tell.

"This is an important sign of confidence in our soldiers," said Pius Segmller, a Christian Democrat MP and a former member of the Swiss Vatican Guard.

A gun ban was strongly opposed by the populist, right-wing Swiss People's Party, which organised a referendum last year banning minaret building at mosques.

Shooting club owners had complained that the law would have effectively destroyed many of the country's 3000 gun clubs, which function as key social centres in hundreds of villages.

The result amounted to a serious blow to Switzerland's nascent gun control lobby. It had banked on a high turnout by women voters to get its initiative approved.

But results showed that only the cities of Basel and Geneva and a few French-speaking cantons bucked a national trend in favour of keeping guns at home.

Switzerland has the highest rate of gun suicide in Europe, with around 300 self-inflicted deaths each year involving a firearm.

There have also been a number of high-profile killings. Swiss skiing star Corinne Rey-Bellet was shot dead by her estranged husband in 2006. There is no national firearms register in Switzerland.

But unofficial estimates suggest there are between two million and three million guns kept in Swiss households.

- INDEPENDENT